The Minnesota Republican is reintroducing her "Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act," which aims to repeal the 2007 mandate that would phase out traditional incandescent light bulbs in favor of compact fluorescent bulbs by Jan. 1, 2012.

"The government has no business telling an individual what kind of light bulb to buy," she said in a statement Wednesday.

The founder of the House Tea Party Caucus has also raised alarms about the environmental hazards of the tiny amounts of mercury in compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs).

Bachmann said she could live with the mandate only if the Government Accountability Office could vouchsafe the new technology's safety, cost-efficiency and environmental benefits of the new bulbs.

Either way, Bachmann will have made her point: "The American people want less government intrusion into their lives, not more, and that includes staying out of their personal light bulb choices."

Kevin Diaz is a correspondent in the Star Tribune's Washington bureau.

Gunnar Birkerts, an internationally acclaimed modernist architect who designed buildings including the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis, the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, and the University of Michigan Law Library, has died. He was 92.